U.S. Surgeon General: Americans could get to the point where they "learn to live with" COVID-19
COVID-19 is likely to become a long-term issue for Americans to "learn to live with," according to U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy.
"As we look to the future, I think what is likely to happen is that there will be coronavirus around for some period of time. But I do think we can knock it down in terms of its severity, and second, we can reduce the number of cases," Murthy told "CBS Mornings."
Murthy said the country could get to the point where people deal with the illness "like any other respiratory virus."
"I think we can certainly learn to live with it. Think about the common cold, for example; like we have learned to live with the common cold. And, you know, we can take precautions to protect ourselves. We know how to get through it," said Murthy. "We can ultimately get COVID, I think, to a place where it's somewhere in between the cold and the flu. Yes, it's a virus that's circulating but it doesn't disrupt our way of life, doesn't prevent us from seeing the people we love, doesn't prevent our kids from being in school."
Murthy said there is "good news to come" as vaccines continue to prove their effectiveness and new oral antiviral medications are "on the horizon."
Ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday, Murthy recommended that vaccinated families who will be gathering indoors with unvaccinated people do so with precautions.
"I think if you're gathering indoors with vaccinated and unvaccinated people together, that is certainly a higher risk situation, especially if you're a parent like me and you've got unvaccinated kids at home because they're not eligible yet, or they haven't gotten a vaccine yet, then you want to be especially cautious," he said.